Newtown group wants action on gun control

Ken Dixon and Libor Jany

Updated 11:25 am, Friday, March 8, 2013

HARTFORD -- Legislative leaders met for four more hours Thursday, continuing to make progress toward a possible bipartisan response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre.

But lawmakers are not likely to comply with a request from a Newtown group asking to schedule a vote in the General Assembly next week in time for the three-month anniversary of the murders.

"The legislative leaders today engaged in productive talks and we scheduled to continue those talks tomorrow," said Senate President Pro Tempore Donald E. Williams Jr., D-Brooklyn. "Much of our discussion thus far has focused on gun-related topics. We are taking this process day-by-day as we look to address issues surrounding violence prevention, mental health and school security."

"It was very similar to yesterday," Senate Minority Leader John McKinney said Thursday night of the negotiations. "We did agree not to talk about specifics. But we continue to make progress."

McKinney said there are still areas of recommendations from three legislative task forces that have not yet been discussed by the Democrats and Republicans.

"We're continuing to find common ground in areas and understand our differences, to find solutions to problems," he said. "Nothing has been taken off the table."

No House or Senate sessions have been scheduled for next week and McKinney said it's "unlikely" a deal can be reached in time to have a vote by next Thursday.

The Newtown Action Alliance, one of several community groups created after the shooting, sent leaders of the House and Senate a request Thursday for a vote next week.

"I respect the work they're doing and respect their beliefs," McKinney said. "I'm still very hopeful we'll have a very good comprehensive package that will pass in the near future. If we take an extra day or two or three, or one week, I think getting it right is more important."

But Dave Ackert, the group's founder, was critical of Republican members of a task force who earlier in the week would not endorse expanding the state's ban on military-style weapons to include the Bushmaster used by Adam Lanza, who shot and killed 20 first-graders and six staff members on Dec. 14.

"The admirable goal of trying to get a bipartisan agreement seems, in our mind, to be a remarkable waste of time because it doesn't seem that the Republican leaders seem to be inclined to take bold steps," Ackert said. "It just doesn't seem to be that they have the political courage to lead as the world is watching us."

In his letter to the General Assembly, Ackert urged Democratic lawmakers to abandon bipartisan compromise and pass stricter gun control legislation before the anniversary.

Citing this week's Quinnipiac University Poll, Ackert said that residents strongly support the expanded ban on assault weapons and prohibitions against high-capacity magazines of more than 10 bullets by 68 to 28 percent.

"There's no question that on the state and federal level those are the most controversial," he said. "Regular people in their everyday conversations talk about this stuff, so the data doesn't surprise me."